Boot and shoe



Oct. 21 1924.

A 1,512,033 A. E. LITTLE BOOT AND SHOE FiledAua. 5, 1922 INVE; N+ u V:

VJ MW a. ma Ly M6@ Maga Patented Oct.' 21, 192.4.

UNITED STATES 1,512,033 PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER E. LITTLE, O'F LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNO'R, BY MESNE ASSIGN- MENTS, TO THE LITTLEWAY PROCESS COMPANY, OF LYNN, MASSACHUSETTS, A.

CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

noo'r ND sHoE.

Application led August 5, 1922. Serial No. 579,935.

To all whom it may concern.'

Be it known that I, ALEXANDER E. LrrrLE, a citizen ofl the United States, residing at Lynn, county of Essex, State ofMassachusetts, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Boots and Shoes, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein tothe accompanying drawings.

My invention has for its object a new and improved boot or shoe which shall give to the longitudinal arch of the foot more efficient support, and hence be more healthful than shoes as heretofore constructed, but which shall be flexible in the shank, and therefore easy and comfortable to the wearer, and which can be manufactured at substantially the same cost as other shoes of like quality as usually constructed. A more particular object of my invention is lto provide a shoe which shall operate so that the ressure of the foot on the inside of the shoe when the wearer is standing squarely will hold the shank of the shoe closely against the underside of the instep instead o causing or permitting it to sag away from the instep.

I have found from careful study and long experience that welt shoes as ordinarily constructed have an injurious effect on the foot, since the shank tends to drop away from the instep of the wearer, thus failing to support the longitudinal arch of the foot. Attempts have beeny made to provide less injurious shoes by so constructing them that the upper acts as a bandage around the instep when the lacings or other securin devices are tightly secured, but in `such s oes the tendency of the shank to flatten is increased and the injury to the foot is i-ntensified rather than diminished.v Moreover, in such shoes the bandage effect is practically limited to that part of the foot forward of the top of the instep immediately over the cuneiform bones, since the lacings or other fastenings do not exert any material upward strain upon the upper tothe rear of this point, so that, while the cuneiform and metatarsal bones are firmly held, the scaphoid and astragalus are not materially supported, although these are the bones most needing support, since they are located at the top and, in effect, constitute the keystone of the longitudinal arch. In accordance with my invention the last named bones of the longitudinal arch, as well as those forward thereof, are given adequate support.

I attain these results in part by using, an insole having an extension which I term a saddle lying within the upper and extending beyond the inside edge of the outsole, the counter being extended forwardly so that it overlaps the rear end of the saddle, thus forming a continuous support forthe inside of the foot. The upper and other parts are out, andproportioned so that the weare'rs weight which flattens the sole will stretch the upper along a line drawn from the heel seam to to the ball and thus tend to lift the upper particularly on the inside above the shank with the result that the whole semifiexible` shank, composed of the outsole, upper, lining and counter stitched together through and through under heavy pressure, is lifted upward.

-In welt shoes as heretofore constructed, the weakest point is at the inner side of the shoe about where the heel joins the shank. Accordingly, another object of my invention is to. strengthen this portionA of the shoe without, however, impairing the flexibilit of the shank. This is accomplished y stopping the welt short of the ball of the foot at the inner side of the shoe, wrapping the upper `flat across the insole at the inner side of the shank, and securing the insole, outsole and upper firmly together at this point by a through-and-throu h lock stitch seam which passes all the way t rough the several superposed layers of material, this seam preferably having its thread locks embedded in the outsole and welding the parts firmly together without aecting the flexibility of the whole.

The construction last described may to advantage lbe employed in connection with the arch sup orting structure first mentioned, "in .which case the lock stitch seam passes through the extended and overlapping end of the counter as well as through the insole, outsole and upper, thereby uniting these parts with the firmness, while affording them the iexibility, required in order to Yenable them to function in the desired manner.

. I am aware that shoes have been made with so-called stabbed Shanks; that is,

with a line of stitching placed by hand along the inside edge of the shank, passing through the outsole, the upper and a lip on the insole but not completely through the insole. I am also aware that shoes have been stabbed along the shank by the use of McKay sewing machines, but, besides the defects inherent in McKay shoes, such shoes'are stiftl in the shank and are lacking in the good qualities resulting from the peculiar construction of the related parts described herein and particularly the insole with its saddle and the overlapping counter. The seam forming part of the hereindescribed invention does not oppose the bending of the shoe, since the locks of the stitches lie within the outsole .and pivot or swing on each other when the sole is bent in much the same manner as the links of a simple cable chain swing on each other when the chain is bent.

The invention will be fully understood from the following description of one embodiment thereof, and its novel features will be pointed out and clearly defined in the claims at .the close of this specication.

In the drawings, Fig. l is a plan view of a shoe embodying the invention, part of the' upper being drawn aside to show the interior construction.

Fig. 2 is a vertical section of the shoe Shown in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line 3 3 of Fig. -2.

Fig. 4 is a section on the line 4-4 of Fig. 5 is a plan view of an insole employed in the shoe shown in Figs. 1 and 2.

Fi 6 is a bottom plan view of the shoe showin the relation of the parts before the shoe is ottomed.

Fig. 7 is a dia illustrating how t e wearers weight, when standing squarel on the ground, tends to lift the shank, olding it up against the wearers instep.

Referring now to the drawings, at 11 is shown the outsole, at 12 the welt, at 13 the upper, at 14 the counter, and at 15 the insole. The outsole 11 is of ordinary construction except that the inside edge of the shank, as indicated at a in Figs. 1 and 3, is carried` well in under the instep, curving outwardly about to, or even beyond, the median line of the shoe. shank which is 'consequently very flexible and brings the point of connectionv of the sole and upper very far under 4the instep, thus permitting the upper, when secured tightly in place by the usual lacings or other fastening devices, to grip the foot in substantially the manner of' a bandage tending to support the forward portion of the inner side of the instep. The insole 15 is provided. adjacent the shank or instep portion, with ammatic yside elevation,'

.This makes a narrowa lateral extension 16 which for convenience I call a saddle. The insole with its extension or saddle is preferably made of material which will be elastic and yielding, although sufliciently sti to perform the functions hereinafter referred to. The saddle lies'inside the upper and extends inwardly and upwardly from the inside edge of the shank of the shoe, re-inforcing the upper and distributing rearwardl the supportingstram of the bandage portion of the upper, thereby affording support to the rear portion of the longitudinal 'arch of the foot.

The counter 14 is long-enough to overlap' part of the saddle 16 and to be stitched through and through and become part of the shank. In the finished shoe, thesaddle and counter merge into each other along the inside of the shoe and together support this portion of the foot and hold up the shank of the shoe in accordance with the distribution of weight, as will be explained more in detail later.v

In constructing the shoe embodying my invention, the upper along the inside ofthe shank is wrapped across and caused to lie substantially flat upon the bottom of the shank portion of the insole, as shown at b in Figure 6, being cut accordingly, and is suitably secured thereto as by. a line of stitches 17. The welt 12 is started at the point c substantiall at the breast of the heel at the outer si e of the shoe and carried around the toe and sto s at the point cl at the inner side of the s oe'opposite the ball of the foot, this being at the front endy of the saddle 16. There is, therefore, no welt adjacent the saddle. The outsole 11 is secured to the shoe in the ordinary way except along the inside of the shank where there is no welt. In the drawings, I have shown at 18 the stitching by which the outsole is secured to the welt. Thereafter, I stitch the shoe along the inside of the shank, as shown at 19 in Figures 1, 2, 3, and 4'. This line of stitching follows closely the edge of the outsole and passes alll the way through the several superposed layers of material including the outsole, (with the exception of the usual channel, if such be used) the insole, the elongated counter and the upper.

the locks are set inside the outsole. This is a very important feature of my invention' because it gives great strength to the shoe without diminishin its flexibility. This line of stitching, w ich is inserted under heavy pressure, secures the ins'ole, outsole, upper and counter together, and since it is preferably a lock stitch seam, the several The seam is a lock-stitch seam and ping of the counter and saddle together with the strength given to the shoe by this line of stitching 19 renders the shoestrongest at the point where the counter overlaps the saddle of the insole which is the weakest point in shoes of ordinary construction.

The upper and other parts of the shoe are proportioned and cut so that when the shoe is fiat, as is 4the case when the wearers weight is evenly distributed over it, the upper along a line from the heel seam at thel point e (see Fig. 7) to the ball at about the point g is stretched or drawn taut. Since the upper is carried down and under the saddle tothe edges of the outsole and 1s secured to it by the line of stitching described, the stretching of the upper along the line e, g draws it tight around the inside of the instep and holds the flexible shank up against the foot. The inside forward end of the counter which extends to about the middle of the saddle tends to lift the shank whenever there is any pressure on the inside of the counter at the heel, thus assisting the upper and saddle to hold the shank up against the foot. This cornpletely prevents the sagging or dropping of the shank which is always to be observed in welt shoes as heretofore constructed. The saddle and forwardly extending counter are thus held firmly but yieldingly against this portion of the foot and together form a sort of yielding cradle in which the foot rests comfortably. When the weight is taken from th heel and thrown forward onto the ball as in the act of walking, the pressure is released and the whole shoe flexes with the foot. The pressure placed on the inside of the instep of the wearers foot by this construction, in which the upper is stretched tightly across this portion of the foot together with the saddle, tends to throw the foot into natural position throwing the weight toward the inside of the shoe. It has previously been attempted to 'accomplish this result b the use of wedges and raising and lengthening theinside corners of the heel.

tend to grow stronger because of the perfectly distributed support afforded at the instep, and that in this respect my shoes are a great contrast to ordinary welt shoes.

This case is in the nature of a continuation, in part, and with respect to the subject matter common to the two cases, of my prior application led June 15, 1922, Serial Number 568,539.

What I claim is 1. A boot or shoe including an upper, an outsole and an insole, the insolehaving on the side thereof a saddle between the ball and heel which extends beyond the outsole, a welt which stops short adjacent the front end of the saddle, and a counter overlapping the saddle for a portion of itslength, said parts being secured together along the inside of the shank by a lock stitch seam extending all the way through said insole, outsole, upper, and countery E2.. A boot or shoe including an insole, an upper which along the inside of the shank is wrapped across and lies lat against the underside of the insole, the edge of said upper beingst'itched in place, a welt stopping short of the ball of the foot on the inside, van outsole and a lock stitch seam along the inside of the shank extending all the way through the insole, outsole, and upper.

v3. A boot or shoe including an insole, an upper which along the inside of the shank is wrapped across and lies flat against the under side of the insole, the edge of said upper being secured to said insole, a welt stopping short of the ball of the foot on the inside, an outsole, and a lock stitch seam along the inside of the shank extending all the way through the insole, outsole and upper.

In testimony whereof I ai'ix my signa- 

